Oh Love // Sequel to Damaged Kids

E P I L Ø G U E

"Mateo, c'mon baby is time to get up." I tried to wake up my son for his first day of kindergarten. It was a bittersweet feeling because I was so proud of my little baby, but at the same time I didn't want him to grow up.

Josh and I had another child; her name is Arabella Lynn Dun and she was only seven months old going on eight. I loved my family and Josh was such an amazing dad. He always made sure that they babies were fed, clean, and that they had absolutely everything. Arabella was his little girl and the light of his eyes. Even at seven months, she had him wrapped around her little chubby finger.

Mateo was a ray of sunshine. He could brighten up your day with his smile, the one he inherited from his dad. Just like Josh, Mateo's eyes would squint and his cheeks had little dimples. He had my nose, but he had Josh's hazel-mocha eyes. Overall, Mateo was the spitting image of Josh with some exceptions like my nose, high cheekbones, and ears.

Arabella, on the other hand, looked like me. She had my brown eyes, shapely brows, and plump lips that made her look like a baby chick and my tan skin tone. She had our dimples, but she also had Josh's chin and ears.

Eventually, I got Mateo to wake up and got him ready for his first day of school. While I got him ready, Josh was in the kitchen taking care of Arabella.

I dressed Mateo in some jeans and a little Blink 182 shirt that Mark had given us specifically for his first day of school. In Mark's words 'Your kid better wear this shirt...or else'. Mark is harmless, but decided to dress Mateo in that shirt for the hell of it.  I tied Mateo's black Vans and made a mental note to teach him how to tie them. Grabbing his backpack, I grabbed Mateo's hand led him to the kitchen where his dad and baby sister was.

"Hey there lil' man!" Josh greeted his son, messing up his curly hair. Which, by the way, took me forever to calm it down.

"Joshua! What the ffffrick!" I tried not to cuss around the kids, but sometimes Josh made it hard to do.

"Oh. Whoops, sorry. Mateo's hair looks fine. Don't worry about it babe." Josh kissed me and Mateo made a grossed out look.

"Ew, mommy and daddy kithed." I chuckled at the way he said 'kissed' and how cute his lisp sounded.

"Oh shush." I kissed his cheek and wiped away the red stain my lipstick caused. "So hun, what do you want to eat?!"

"Can I have thome scwambled eggs pweathe?" Mateo asked politely as he propped himself on the stool. I nodded and began to make his eggs.

"And you, drummer boy?" I asked as I cooked the eggs.

"I'll wait until we come back." Josh said as he fed Arabella.

"You sure?" Josh nodded and I shrugged, focusing on the eggs. I finished cooking the eggs and placed the plate in front of Mateo along with his juice. As he ate, I prepared his lunch and but in his lunchbox.

"Alright sweetheart, go brush your teeth and we'll get going." Mateo nodded and ran to the bathroom, Josh following close by. I took Arabella and changed her diaper.

"Hey there little girl, how are you today?" I changed my baby and put her shoes on. It was futile since she would just kick them off, but I liked to have children be as presentable as possible.

"Teeth are brushed!" Josh announced, coming into the living room.

"Alright! Are you ready Mateo?!" Mateo nodded apprehensively and knew that he was nervous.

"Mommy, what if the other kwids don't like me?" He asked shyly.

"Listen Matty, there's no reason to be nervous. I bet you many of these kids are as nervous as you, but everything is going to be okay. You know why? Because you're going to make so many friends! Just remember to breath if you do get too nervous, okay?" Mateo nodded at Josh's words and hugged his dad.

"Thank you, daddy!" Mateo kissed Josh on the cheek and held his hand, leading him outside. More confident than ever.

We played Mateo's favorite band, his dad's and tio's band, all the way to the school. Like always, Josh held my hand on the way there and it was such a reassuring feeling. It didn't matter if Josh and I were mad at each other, he always held it.

As we drove, Josh drummed his parts on the steering wheel and Mateo sang in the back. Grabbing my phone, I opened Snapchat and took a video of them.

Before putting it on my story, I captioned it with: Who needs Tyler on vocals when you have Mateo? I posted the video and enjoyed the car ride with my three loves.

When we got to the school, it really dawned on me that this was it. Mateo is finally growing up and after elementary school he was off to middle school and then high school and finally college. My mind was racing and my ears were ringing.

"Babe? Lydia what's wron" Josh snapped me out my haze and when I came back to reality, Josh had a concerned look on his face.
"Huh? Oh sorry, I spaced out." I calmed down and we walked Mateo to his class. We found his classroom, 303, and the teacher was already far older than us.

"Good morning dear! How nice of you to join us! What's your name, sweetheart?" She asked Mateo as she bent to reach his size.

"M-Mateo. Mateo Thachary Dun." Mateo held his lunchbox close to him and spoke softly.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Mateo. You can go sit wherever you like!" Mateo looked up at us for reassurance and we nodded for him to go, giving him big smiles. He looked back at his classmates in a longing manner and before he went to play, he hugged Josh and I and ran to go play.

"So you must be Mateo's parents!" She looked us over, stopping at every piece of art that covered mine and Josh's body and our crazy looking hair. Josh's hair was dyed yellow and mine was dyed in a powdery purple colour.

"Yeah, my name is Josh and this is my wife Lydia. And this little girl is Arabella." He said, grabbing her chubby arms and waving.

"Aw, well it was really nice meeting the both of you." We said our goodbyes to Mateo and his teacher and went back home.

-
The next few years came and went by in a blink of an eye. It felt like just yesterday Mateo was only in kindergarten and Arabella was only a baby.

Now, we were old and wrinkly with our grandchildren running around. Twenty One Pilots were no longer a band, just an idea now. Their music still lives on and once in a while, we would hear the familiar melodies and lyrics that cut deep coming from a neighboring house.

It was great being able to hear the music from our golden days and getting to relive those moments from just hearing the music.

Today was one of those days. I laid on my bed, a neighboring house blaring one of my favorite Twenty One Pilots songs, Screen.

Josh, Tyler, and Jenna were no longer physically here with me, but for some reason, I could still see them young and healthy surrounded by light. They waved for me to join them but as much as I wanted to, I couldn't move.

Suddenly, Josh appeared next to me. "Hey baby, we're gonna go see an extraordinary place. You should come with us." He intertwined our fingers together and helped me up.

"I missed you." I whispered to him and he smiled my favorite smile.

"I did too, babygirl. But I'm here now. Everything is going to be okay." He closed my eyes and I felt my soul being lifted away from my body and I saw myself leave my temporary vessel. 

Soon, I was with Tyler and Jenna, along with my mom and dad. I felt young and rejuvenated. We walked hand in hand into the light, leaving everything behind.

"We're driving toward the morning sun where all your blood is washed away and all you did will be undone."

-
So this story is officially done. Sorry if it was crappy, I had no idea where I was going with it and rushed it. Thank you guys for reading this and I am currently working on a new story. I'll let you guys know when that is out.